I am writing this article as I sit in one of the lounges on the interisland ferry that travels between the North and South islands. It has been a while since I was on the ferry and I am reminded of an incident that took place during that particular trip.
I was on a softball trip for the Rotorua colts team and one of the guys was throwing breath mints at the seagulls trying to hit one of them. I asked him for a mint and immediately put it in my mouth to eat. I remember the look of surprise as he glared at me and said: "E hoa - don't waste them."
All the boys just started laughing, asked him for more mints to eat and it was one of many hilarious events on that trip.
For the past week, I have been in Nelson with my son, whanau, some senior students and a couple of the teachers from Te Kura o Te Koutu as well as staff, parents and students from other Te Arawa schools. We have been attending the Nga Manu Korero National speech competitions to support the four outstanding Te Arawa speakers, including my son, who presented against other regional champions.
As a professional speaker, I thoroughly enjoyed the presentations by all four Te Arawa representatives. Speaking is very high on the list of activities people fear and avoid. It is even more difficult as a teenager when speaking in front of your peers and teachers - let alone parents and whanau. I would like to congratulate all four speakers who represented Te Arawa admirably with Te Kaiamo Okeroa Rogers taking second place in the junior Maori, Tairoa Morrison taking fourth for senior Maori and, while Georgia Stiles and Eruera did not receive significant placings, they nevertheless represented Te Arawa excellently. All speakers were well prepared, bold, entertaining, informative and well received by their audience. They are not only leaders of tomorrow, but leaders of today who made the most of the opportunities given to them.